Ezra Stiles College - Design

Design

The college, considered by many architecture critics a masterpiece of American architecture, is built of rubble masonry with buildings and a tower in the style of pre-Gothic Tuscan towers such as still exist in the medieval Italian hill town of San Gimignano. The college consists almost entirely of single rooms, and in a modern attempt to capture the spirit of Gothic architecture, Saarinen eliminated all right angles from the living areas.

Stiles' adjacent "twin" residential college Morse is architecturally similar, was built at the same time, has an adjoining dining room, and shares a common kitchen. Architecturally, Morse and Stiles differ from older colleges by having more private space per student and the lowest ratio of natural light aperture to wall surface.

Because none of the interior walls make right angles, Stiles' dorm rooms are furnished with built-in desks and bookshelves. The college was once heated by a system that warmed the stone floors, but maintenance troubles led Yale to abandon it and install radiators.

Contrary to popular belief, the college's concrete walls were never meant to be covered with ivy.

Yale is renovating its residential colleges; in fall 2010, the refurbishment of adjoining Morse College gave Stiles students access to a new gym, dance studio, and the Underground Crescent Theater. Work on Stiles itself began in summer 2010, and is to be complete by August 2011. Among other things, it will add suites to the college and refurbish several massive lighting fixtures designed by UCLA sculptor Oliver Andrews and meant to be abstract and contemporary versions of "the sort of thing you'd find in an ancient castle".